What is a Solana RPC Node?
Deen Newman
October 6, 2025
20 min read
If you’re building a dApp, wallet, or backend that talks to the Solana blockchain, the RPC node is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure you’ll rely on. It directly affects how fast the dApp user interface responds, whether transactions reach the blockchain, and how easy it is to fetch data.
Below, we’ll walk through the topic of Solana nodes in general, so you get the big picture first, then dive deep into Solana RPC nodes.
What is Solana RPC: Highlights
A Solana RPC node is the infrastructure layer that connects wallets, dApps, and services to the Solana network.
It makes the blockchain state (accounts, blocks, program code) and operations with transactions accessible through a standardized API.
Unlike validators hardened for consensus and block production, RPC nodes are intended for API throughput and low-latency reads.
The RPC layer influences the performance and reliability of applications on Solana — UI latency, transaction propagation, and the availability of the blockchain data.
A reliable infrastructure provider like GetBlock ensures consistent, low-latency access to the Solana RPC API and removes the operational burden of running RPC nodes.
What are Solana nodes?
A node in the Solana ecosystem is any computer or server running Solana software that keeps track of the chain state.
By that, we mean the node holds and continuously updates the complete set of “what the blockchain looks like right now.” Concretely, this includes values like balances, account data, program code, and the mechanisms that let the node verify and reproduce those values.
Nodes must keep an accurate state:
To answer queries from its local state and accept transaction submissions
To validate new incoming transactions
To reproduce the chain for new or recovering nodes
Splitting these tasks between different types of nodes lets Solana optimize for different technical requirements.
Two primary types of Solana nodes
Solana nodes differ by role: some participate in consensus, others mainly serve data:
Validator nodes focus on consensus: secure the network by validating transactions and producing blocks.
RPC nodes focus on serving clients: allowing external applications (wallets, dApps, bots, etc.) to read and write data on the blockchain.
While validators are critical for securing finality and network-wide agreement, RPC nodes are essential for interaction.
What is an RPC node in Solana?
A Solana RPC node is a server that exposes Solana’s JSON‑RPC API to applications. It converts user requests (query different types of data, submit transactions, etc.) into actions on the Solana network and returns results.
Because this type of Solana node specializes in delivering data, transactions, and powering developer workflows, it often avoids participating in block production.
What a Solana RPC node does
An RPC node is configured specifically to process and respond to RPC requests. It is operationally tuned to be a Solana API server that allows developers to:
Connect wallets and dApps to the Solana network
Read blockchain data
Broadcast signed transactions
Track logs, blocks, and events
An RPC node is how frontends or backends read chain state and write transactions.
What is a Solana RPC URL?
A Solana RPC URL is the address that applications use to connect to a specific RPC node. These URLs act as the entry point for all RPC requests, an endpoint where the client connects.
Example RPC URLs:
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https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com
// or
https://go.getblock.io/<ACCESS_TOKEN>
The first example is a public Solana endpoint, convenient for testing and experiments. Production apps usually switch to self-hosted endpoints or private RPC providers. The second example shows a provider (GetBlock) endpoint that connects authenticated users to managed Solana node services.
How Solana RPC nodes are different from validators
Unlike validators, RPC nodes in Solana usually do not vote or produce blocks. They focus on serving API traffic and scaling reads.
Notably, running an RPC node means starting the same Solana software that validators use, but with a few tweaks:
It’s set not to participate in consensus.
The process focuses on keeping the ledger and serving the JSON-RPC (HTTP and WebSocket) API.
Flags, indexes, cache, network, and sidecars are also optimized to answer API requests.
Note: A single Solana server can act as both a validator and RPC, but many operators split roles to tune hardware and security differently.
Below is a compact breakdown of the main validator vs RPC node differences:
Aspect | Validator node | RPC node |
Primary role | Validate blocks, vote, and (if leader) produce blocks | Provide APIs to clients |
State storage | Full ledger + snapshots needed for consensus; must maintain correct state for runtime | Full or pruned ledger, depending on needs; may keep archival data and indexes |
Typical hardware focus | Tuned for low-latency peer networking | Tuned for API throughput: more RAM, caching, fast NVMe |
Economic incentive | Yes — has stake, earns rewards, can be slashed for misbehavior | Typically no stake and no rewards |
Failure consequences | Can reduce network security; potential financial loss via slashing | Client downtime, stale data, failed transactions for dApps |
For a more detailed comparison of the two key SOL node types, check our Solana validator vs RPC node deep dive.
Why RPC nodes matter
Without RPC nodes, dApps and wallets would have to speak the low-level gossip protocols themselves. Instead, they just connect to a node via its RPC URL and call high-level JSON-RPC methods. Some examples:
getAccountInfo — read an account’s current data
getProgramAccounts — list accounts owned by a program
sendTransaction / confirmTransaction — submit and observe transactions
getTransaction / getConfirmedBlock — fetch historical transaction or block data
getSignatureStatuses — check whether a signature has been processed/finalized
accountSubscribe, programSubscribe — subscriptions to receive real-time updates
Solana users may never see an RPC node, but they feel it: when a wallet shows the updated balance instantly or a dApp confirms a swap in seconds, that’s because the RPC node delivered fast, reliable service behind the scenes.
How to run a Solana RPC node
Running a fast, reliable RPC service requires beefy hardware and careful configuration. Here, we cover both aspects for those interested in running Solana RPC nodes.
Hardware requirements for a Solana RPC server
An RPC node must be powerful enough to hold the live state and indexes in memory and serve many concurrent requests. Therefore, the node should be a rather powerful machine.
Below are ballpark hardware profiles for Solana RPC nodes tailored for different use cases.
Use case | CPU | RAM | Storage | Network |
Local development (test validator) | 4–8 cores | 16–64 GB | ~0.5 TB NVMe SSD | ≥100 Mbps |
Low-latency production RPC (no archival) | 16–24 cores | ≥ 512 GB | 2–4 TB NVMe SSD | ≥10 Gbps |
Deep historical queries & analytics | 24–64+ cores | 512 GB – 1 TB+ | Hundreds of TBs NVMe + object storage | 10 Gbps+ |
Note that exact needs will depend on traffic and feature set and may change, influenced by the network-wide upgrades.
Solana node software
Solana’s ecosystem now includes several validator clients. For RPC services, the de facto standard is simply to use whichever stable client is preferred. This list currently includes:
Agave (Rust) – The canonical, feature-complete validator implementation. Maintained by Anza, this is essentially the official validator software – the Solana Labs code continued under a new name.
Jito-Solana (Rust) – A fork of the Solana/Agave client by Jito Labs with custom MEV infrastructure.
Firedancer (C/C++) – Built from scratch in low-level C/C++ by Jump Crypto in collaboration with the Solana Foundation. As of 2025, still under development, but expected to become a major high-performance client once released.
Other experimental clients offer niche benefits. Some examples of such: Sig rewrites internals for speed, Paladin adds MEV logic, Mithril reimplements in Go for accessibility.
Steps to start a Solana RPC node
As it was already mentioned, Solana validator and RPC instances share the same binary – Anza’s Agave is the official reference in most deployments. Rather, the exact configurations are what make the server RPC-enabled.
We covered the node setup steps in our Solana full node guide. Here, we add some common steps for launching a Solana server with RPC configurations in place:
Start the Solana validator binary in RPC mode, enabling `--no-voting` and `--full-rpc-api` flags.
Decide whether you need `--enable-rpc-transaction-history` for archive data. If yes, provision large NVMe and more RAM.
If not enabling history, use `--limit-ledger-size` to keep the ledger under a default size (~500 GB).
Enable only the account indexes you need (`spl-token-owner etc.`) and test.
To not advertise your RPC port in gossip and reduce random peer connection attempts: use `--private-rpc`.
Deploy a caching layer (e.g. Redis or Memcached) in front of your RPC node
Harden network: private RPC, API keys, rate limits, monitoring and alerts.
Collect RPC latency and system metrics, monitor memory, IOPS; load test.
Minimal start RPC node command example:
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exec agave-validator --ledger /mnt/ledger --accounts /mnt/accounts \
--rpc-port 8899 --rpc-bind-address 0.0.0.0 \
--full-rpc-api --no-voting --private-rpc
This runs the node on mainnet, listens on port 8899, exposes all RPC methods, and does not participate in consensus. See the official Agave documentation for a complete list and description of each flag, as well as installation and sync steps.
Using an RPC node in Solana development
Self-hosting a node teaches you a lot, but for web3 developers and businesses that want to move faster, reduce operational risk, and keep focus on product features, using a managed infrastructure provider is a more practical choice.
GetBlock is one of such services. It lets its users get working Solana endpoints in minutes and then scale with dedicated private nodes that can cut Solana RPC latency from typical averages to around 33 ms, making apps feel snappier and giving real-time services an edge.
Here’s how to generate a free Solana endpoint in the GetBlock dashboard to start using it immediately:
Sign up at GetBlock.
Use the endpoint widget to configure a Solana endpoint by choosing the required interface and server location.
Receive a short endpoint URL, ready to accept calls.
This way, instead of spending days on hardware, syncing, and maintenance, you can begin building and interacting with the chain immediately: point your SDK and iterate.
Testing the endpoint with a simple RPC call
Format a standard Solana JSON-RPC POST and point it at the endpoint you generated. Example – check an account balance:
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curl -X POST https://go.getblock.io/<YOUR-ACCESS-TOKEN> \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"jsonrpc":"2.0",
"id":"getblock.io",
"method":"getBalance",
"params":["AddPublicKeyHere"]
}'
For more supported methods and examples, check out the GetBlock Solana documentation.
Connecting with @solana/web3.js SDK
Pass in your RPC endpoint URL to tell the SDK where to send all requests in the Connection constructor:
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import { Connection } from "@solana/web3.js";
const connection = new Connection("https://go.getblock.io/<YOUR-ACCESS-TOKEN>");
connection.getBalance("EnterPublicKeyHere").then(console.log);
A method called on it, like getBalance(), is then sent to a configured RPC node.
Conclusion: Choosing a Solana RPC strategy
An RPC node is the part of the Solana architecture that most affects user experience and reliability. Picking RPC influences frontend behavior, backend retries, and long-term maintenance.
For anyone who needs a reliable Solana RPC node, self-hosting one (or a fleet of them) gives maximum control over its performance and customization. On the other hand, it forces node operators to own all operational complexity. This requires specialized expertise like:
Understanding Solana’s internals well enough to optimize performance
Performing low-level infrastructure and maintenance tasks: database housekeeping, syncing, fixing data issues, routine upgrades, etc.
Scaling and handling spikes requiring autoscaling policies, load balancers, and effective caching
Handling security and monitoring.
If you’re using a provider like GetBlock, these infra details are handled for you. Try it now: Create a GetBlock account, spin up a managed Solana RPC endpoint, and run a few smoke tests.
FAQ
What is a Solana node?
What is an RPC node in Solana?
What is RPC in Solana?
What is the RPC URL for the Solana network?
What’s the difference between Solana validator and RPC nodes?
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